Myocardial ischemia, which involves oxygen starvation of the myocardium, can lead to myocardial infarction and/or the onset of malignant arrhythmias if the oxygen starvation is not alleviated. Although myocardial ischemia is sometimes associated with the symptom of angina pectoris (i.e., chest pain), the majority of episodes of myocardial ischemia are asymptomatic or “silent.”
A wide range of therapies are known for the treatment of myocardial ischemia once it is detected, including surgical revascularization, neural stimulation and use of a variety of biologically active agents or compounds which can remove blood clots, reduce cardiac workload or improve cardiac circulation. However, accurate and rapid detection of myocardial ischemia is necessary in order to reduce the morbidity and mortality from this often silent but deadly condition. In other words, without knowledge of the condition, it cannot be treated. Accordingly, those in the cardiac field are always searching for new and/or improved ways to detect ischemic episodes.